Puzzle



J. E. HOY.

PUZZLE.

APPLICATlON FILED DEC. 29. 1919.

1,345,490. Patented uly 6', 1920.

a (SW W I Gum,

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. I-IOY, OF MIDLAND, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ROLAND P.

' PLACE, OF MIDLAND, MICHIGAN.

PUZZLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. J uIy 6, 1920.

Application filed. December 29, 1919. Serial No. 347,917.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN E. HOY, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Midland, in the county, of Midland and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Puzzle, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to puzzles of that class wherein a number of heterogeneous pieces are intended to be fitted together to reproduce a complete design, and its object is to provide means whereby a great variety of pieces of any desired number may be produced at will from the same blank.

This invention consists in a thin section of wood cut at substantially right angles to the grain and having on one side a design of any desired character produced in any desired manner, the sheet of wood being left entire until it is to be used and the player breaking his sheet into as many pieces of whatever form he may choose.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of a section of wood upon which is shown a conventional design. Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof.

Similar reference characters referto like parts throughout the several views.

J ig-saw puzzles are usually produced by pasting a picture on a thin board and then sawing the board at random into many irregular pieces. These pieces are permanent and after being fitted together a few times, the game loses interest. In the present case the sheet is left entire until in the hands of the player, and is so friable that the player may subdivide it as he chooses.

A seasoned piece of pine, maple or other straight-grained wood, which has dried without objectionable checks, is cut at an angle to the grain into thin sheets 1, preferably from about one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch thick, after which it maybe sanded or smoothed in any other desired manner on one or both sides. The pores may be filled or not, and the wood may be stained as may be deemed desirable.

Any desired picture or design may be painted, printed, burned, or otherwise affiXed on one or both sides of the sheet, and the article is then ready for shipment. lVhen it is to be used, the player breaks the sheet into a number of pieces which are then mixed, after which. these pieces are fitted together, the player being assisted by the annual rings 2 of the wood and by the design. After the player tires of these first pieces, the larger pieces may be again broken until a large number of small pieces are obtained, the puzzle becoming increasingly difficult. NO two pieces are ever alike. These pieces are shown in the drawings as bounded by the dotted lines 3-, but these are merely conventionally drawn. These puzzles can be produced at very low cost and as their parts will be of infinite variety, they will always present novel combinations.

I claim 1. A puzzle consisting of a thin friable sheet of wood having its grain at substantially right angles to its surface so that it may readily be broken into a number of pieces, said sheet having a design on one JOHN E. HOY. 

